Whatever The Numbers Say

13 January 2026

https://poems.culturing.net/2026/01/whatever-the-numbers-say/

The leader knows nothing, he babbles like an idiot
about how we must "align motions," then exiles or punishes
those who disagree. This is no way to motivate. Now
we shall sacrifice honor, hard won over many years,
to assuage the ego of an insecure man. He must change things
or else he could never take credit, and some in the group were too virtuous
to be swayed. So away with them! Bring in old friends
who may or may not be better, who certainly will be more loyal
to a man who needs all the loyalty he can get, unable
to earn it the hard and true way. Will the ship stay afloat?
It seems less and less likely, though most of the crew
are experienced at sea and can see the storms coming. One hopes
for a mutiny, perhaps from above, from those pulling the strings,
under whose banner all our ships sail. But it may be
that honor is profitable only for so long, that eventually growth
is an end in itself, once the victims can no longer escape.
Have we spun a neat web for them, made from false promises
and years of good treatment, such that now they will stay either way?
Shall we make leaving hard, then abuse them? Such is the way
to ruin, whatever the numbers say.

--

Time will tell, but for now I am loyal to those I have seen do good
over many years. It will be something to see if new evil collides
with old good, entrenched and habitual, but lacking executive support.
It's the old cosmic struggle. But how could I leave, knowing
nowhere is free from this struggle forever, that virtue breeds growth
and that growth breeds corruption, now and forevermore?